


now i want to hold you too

by Sneakyfox55



Series: way down underground [2]
Category: Hadestown - Mitchell (Broadway) RPF, Undertale (Video Game)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Ancient Greek Religion & Lore Fusion, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Alternate Universe - Hadestown Fusion, Drama & Romance, F/M, Falling In Love, Feelings Realization, Fluff, Fluff and Humor, Flustered Sans (Undertale), Inaccurate Ancient Greek Religion & Lore, Inspired by Hadestown, Inspired by Music, Inspired by Orpheus and Eurydice (Ancient Greek Religion & Lore), Light Angst, Magic in this is weird, Musical References, Reader Is Not Chara (Undertale), Reader Is Not Frisk (Undertale), Reader is a Sweetheart, Sans Has Trust Issues (Undertale), Shy Sans (Undertale), slight headcanons, so is the lore, trust me - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-03-11
Updated: 2021-03-11
Packaged: 2021-03-13 18:55:22
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,279
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29905572
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Sneakyfox55/pseuds/Sneakyfox55
Summary: Despite all that Sans has known, he falls in love.
Relationships: Papyrus (Undertale) & Reader, Sans (Undertale)/Reader
Series: way down underground [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2172411
Comments: 11
Kudos: 21





	now i want to hold you too

**Author's Note:**

> heyo, have some more Hadestale :))
> 
> ~~while i'm at it, have a bit of a headcanon showcase--~~

For most of his life, Sans has been told humans are dangerous—that even if they seem nice, it might be just a ruse. Just a way to lower one’s guard, and, next thing you know you get a knife in the back.

Literally.

...But...

Then he met you.

You showed up out of the blue one day, searching for food for your people. It looked like you hadn’t eaten in months, then—and his little brother Papyrus took pity on you, apparently deciding there was no reason he shouldn’t help an “enemy” out.

To say Sans was wary of you would be an understatement; and one day, when you invited them to visit your village, the wariness didn’t quite go away.

...

Yeah, well.

Then there’s the present.

To his credit, he’d _promised_ himself he wouldn’t give in so easily. He despised the act of making promises, but he fought _real_ damn hard to keep one if he had to, and in this case he set out to make it no different.

...But, by nature,

monsters trust _very_ easily. Even ones that actively don’t want to, or even try to go against the grain of such. Like him, for instance.

...Unfortunately, he’s still a _monster_ —which _sounds_ like a bad thing but it’s really ironic in this case.

By nature, monsters care. One of their core aspects is their compassion, and their faith in others and that... Doesn’t really go away, even for a skeleton like Sans.

So he... _Kind of_ trusts you, now. Just a little. ~~So he tries to tell himself.~~ Not his choice, really, and yet... He doesn’t particularly mind it? ~~It gives him something to believe in, for once.~~

But what’s _weird_ about this new “trust” is it’s making him feel like he’s “spacey” all the time. Like he’s lost his sense of Judgement, or—or _something_. Which is very useful and _important_ to him, just for the record! He kind of needs it?

And he’s not even sure where it’s coming from; all he knows is that it must be _you_ , somehow.

Every time he so much as _hears_ your voice, his soul feels much-too-wobbly than is probably healthy. It’s worse when he wakes up in the morning and he can pick-up on your talking through the thin walls because then he realizes you’re here and he’s _here_ , still in bed, with barely any clothes on and absolutely no redeeming qualities whatsoever.

Why does he _care_? That’s what he asks himself a whole lot these days. It doesn’t help the fact you only come around every so often, now, just to visit. He doesn’t know _why_ but once he knows you’re here again, it...

It makes his day seem a lot brighter, somehow.

He’s not entirely sure that’s normal.

And, speaking of which, he can hear you speaking _now_ to aforementioned brother of his. You’re both laughing, making a bit too much noise, and something smells good, so he can assume you must be cooking.

Monsters don’t get hungry, so you must be here for your village again; that or you just wanted to visit like you used to.

At this point, he hasn’t seen you in a few weeks, and...

...

Is it weird that he missed you?

He... Almost doesn’t care. But he _does_ care about the fact that he’s missing out on all the fun _and_ he’s not dressed, so it’s a no brainer on whether he should remain in bed or not.

So, only staggering a bit, he sluggishly gets to his feet.

*

Things get a lot weirder when Sans actually sees you.

He first notices you’re wearing a dress of yours that he hasn’t seen in quite some time—a white one, with patterns of pink roses scattered about and a baby blue ribbon around your waist. You haven’t noticed him just yet, currently trying to reach something in the cupboards that’s out of your reach. (You’re taller than he is but certainly not taller than his brother.)

Papyrus is next to you, passionately whisking something—when he realizes your struggle, he pauses to fetch whatever you need for you, muttering something under his breath before glancing behind him.

“OH—GOOD MORNING, BROTHER!! YOU HAVE EXCEPTIONAL TIMING (WHICH TRULY IS EXCEPTIONAL FOR YOU), I WAS JUST ABOUT TO COME WAKE YOU!”

“h-heh, uhhh... yeah,” is all the other skeleton can supply meekly, because now you’re looking at him too, your bright smile stretching wider across your face.

“Hey Sans!” you chirp, with way too much enthusiasm than he thought you would address him with. “It’s great to see you again! Sorry I couldn’t stop by sooner.”

Sans can’t think up a response good enough for that. His face feels exceptionally hot, for some reason.

It feels like it’s been longer than it has been since he’s truly seen your face and...

. . .

_Was your hair ever that pretty before?_

_Or your eyes, for that matter?_

_Or—_

Gods, no, that’s creepy isn’t it.

...Why is he still staring at you?

_Why isn’t he saying anything?!_

“i—y-you too!”

...

What the Hell was that.

Why did he do that.

Why are you _laughing_?

“Pfft—thanks.” You snicker, smile softening ever so slightly, “Ever the smooth-talker, aren't you?”

_Wh—_

That’s not what—

...

. . .

You’re just messing with him, aren’t you.

“...eheheheh,” a light chuckle escapes him—very close to that of a nervous giggle. “uh, s... sorry.”

His grin strains on his skull, and Papyrus gives him _a look_.

“FOR STARS’ SAKE, SANS,” he snaps, causing the shorter skeleton to jump. “IF YOUR NONSENSICAL FLIRTING SKILLS AREN’T GOING TO GET YOU ANYWHERE COULD YOU _AT LEAST_ REFRAIN FROM DISTRACTING (Y/N)?”

_Flirting?!_

_He wasn’t—_

_He doesn’t even—_

...

He doesn’t...

_Like_ you that way.

...Right?

“Seriously though.”

You deadpan at him, and it feels as though you’re staring directly into his soul.

“You’re cute but this food isn’t going to cook itself, bonehead.”

...

It takes every ounce of Sans’s willpower _not_ to squeak at that.

He’s probably embarrassing himself enough as is, knowing his head is more blue than white by now. And, ultimately, all he can get out is a weak, “ok.”

He more or less shuffles to the living room after that, stiffly setting himself in one of the chairs.

...

...

_..._

_Gods is he an idiot._

All of that was just a dream, right?

This isn’t...?

...

_Crap._

He can’t even fool himself. He just made a fool _out_ of himself—it’s probably _obvious_ at this point that he...

He kind of...

...Really,

really...

Cares.

About you.

...

But that’s...

It’s weird. You don’t...

You _wouldn’t_...

He should just—

_Give up._

He’d never... Even _remotely_ have a chance with you. That’s not how it is, that’s not how the world works. That’s not how _life_ works, he—

Who _is_ he to think he had a chance?

...Why does it matter so much to him? Why...

Why does he want to hold you?

How could he have let this happen—

To let himself _fall in love_ with you.

It’s hopeless.

He’s too selfish.

He should never have started caring.

_...But his soul aches, even so._

It hurts to not care, or even to pretend.

He’s a fool, for loving you—as monsters are such fools, to wear their souls on their sleeves, and trust so easily, and _love_ so easily simply because of an act of Kindness.

...And yet.

If he could _hold_ _you_ , _just_ for a moment, _somehow_...

Maybe, then...

Maybe this world wouldn’t be so bad.

Maybe it could be better, and...

Maybe you’d love him too.

For if someone like you existed in this cruel world,

then maybe...

_Just maybe..._

He still has a chance.

**Author's Note:**

> also, have some more worldbuilding:
> 
> most of monsterkind is still underground here but unlike regular Undertale, some monsters still live on the Surface with humans (Sans and Papyrus as one example). another difference is humans weren't really the ones to put them there in this AU--rather, monsters kind of put themselves down there. :)
> 
> more on that later when we get to it~


End file.
